San Jose
City of San José Finance Department, Business Tax and Registration
In short
City of San José Finance Department, Business Tax and Registration issues 2 permits we publish for San Jose, last verified 2026-09-05. Each carries the fee as the agency publishes it, with a link to the schedule it was read from.
What this agency issues
| Permit | Issuing agency | Fee | Renews | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Contractor Licensing — Business Tax Certificate Only (San Jose)only if it applies to you | City of San José Finance Department, Business Tax and Registration | No fee | not applicable | 2026-09-05 |
| Business Tax Certificate | City of San José Finance Department, Business Tax and Registration | $222.89 base for 1–2 employees, then a rising per-employee increment: $37.98 for each employee from 3–35, $50.62 for each from 36–100, $63.28 for each from 101–500, and $75.99 for each above 500 — capped at $190,128.24 a year overall. "Employee" counts owners, family members, partners, associates, agents, managers, solicitors and anyone else working for wage, salary, commission or room and board. A further $4 state SB-1186 disability-access fee is collected alongside it. | annual — must be filed within 90 days of starting business; adjusted every July 1 for CPI under Municipal Code section 4.76.365 | 2026-09-05 |
Fees shown as a range or formula are set that way by the issuing agency — we do not average them into a single number.
About each permit
Contractor Licensing — Business Tax Certificate Only (San Jose)
No separate fee applies beyond the standard Business Tax Certificate every business needs: the City's Business Tax Rates page taxes businesses by employee count and names only residential and commercial rental property, mobile home parks and water meter connections as categories taxed on an alternative basis, with no separate contractor category or contractor-specific city license among them. A contractor doing business in San Jose still needs the state Contractors State License Board license already covered at the state layer.
Business Tax Certificate
Confirmed directly against the city's own current rate table, which the requester supplied after sanjoseca.gov refused every automated attempt. The rate rolls over every July 1 — this record formerly carried the July 2025–June 2026 base of $219.60, and the current rate of $222.89 above reflects the July 1, 2026 rollover. This certificate does not itself confer zoning, fire or occupancy approval, which are separate requirements.
Contact
- Jurisdiction
- San Jose
- Phone
- (408) 535-7055
Contact details are taken from the agency’s own site or its published fee schedule. Where we have not verified a phone number we leave it blank rather than guess.
Sources
Every fee and term above was read from one of these government pages on the date shown.
- City of San José — business tax rate schedule, effective July 1, 2025City of San José Finance Department · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-04
Other offices serving San Jose
- San José Police Department, Permits Unit
- City of San José Planning, Building and Code Enforcement, Code Enforcement Division
- City of San José Planning, Building and Code Enforcement, Planning Division
- Santa Clara County Department of Environmental Health
- City of San José Department of Public Works, Development Services
- San José Fire Department, Bureau of Fire Prevention
The full permit list for this jurisdiction
Industry permit lists that include this agency
California jurisdictions
Commercial Compliance Hub publishes information, not legal advice. Requirements change — confirm anything you rely on with the issuing agency before you file.